Not My Night
by HaveNoMercy
Summary: Rogue is about 26 and has never met Logan or any of the other X-Men. She is mugged and while trying to recover, attacked again that same night. A stranger saves her life and together they go on the run, surviving the damage done to her…
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of this. It belongs to Marvel, Fox, Bryan Singer, and so forth. But oh my Lord what'd I'd pay to have Hugh Jackman belong to me, YUM!

Title: Not My Night

Rating: NC-17 for language and sexual situations

Genre: Logan/Marie Romance, Rogue/Wolverine Romance, Drama, Rape

Verse: Alternate Universe

Combination of Movie-verse, Comic-verse, and my own histories entwined! Enjoy!

Summary: In this version of the X-Men, Rogue's only power (so far) is her skin, yet she has control over it. Rogue is about 26 and has never met Logan or any of the other X-Men. But when she is mugged, tragedy strikes her and her captor. Just as Rogue is leaving behind the tragic ending of her and the person who mugged her, she's yet again attacked, realizing this is not her night. A strange man saves her life and together they go on the run…developments happen from there.

Feedback: OF COURSE!

Chapter 1

It was 3:39 in the morning as she walked down the same sidewalk she had when he'd attacked her. She felt a chill as fragile memories trickled into the corners of her mind. His blood was still there. Guilt rushed over her. It was guilt she knew she shouldn't have, but it lingered anyway, raising unwanted thoughts and questions. If he died because of her, she'd seek vengeance. She'd stop them. Tears were clouding up her vision and she really couldn't understand why. The jerk had mugged her, terrorized her, and yet she'd held his hand and stayed with him as he slipped away from life and into the unknown. His life had ended in front of her and oddly enough, she felt a connection with him because of that. Why had she stayed? Why did she help him through it, and why was she crying for him now?

She shed tears because she was human and because he was too. He'd trusted her enough to want her there while he lay dying in her arms, even after he'd made her a victim to his crime.

The car had hit him, and thoughts fluttered against the edges of her brain that it had been because of her, her secret and her power and that maybe _**they**_ were catching up to her. The thug was just a casualty who had paid the price. She wished she could've done more to save him, however ironic that sounded. Now she walked the streets in the light snow contemplating her way out the tangled mess she'd woven herself into.

Tears slid down her freezing cheeks, heating them up in the icy cold air. Her thoughts of life, of death, of the guy she'd just seen stop breathing, were all was interrupted when she felt a strong arm grab her, pull her into an alley and throw her hard up against the wall, knocking the wind out of her. A painful, shocked, breathless moan came from Rogue's body as her eyes lost vision and she struggled to breathe.

She tried to focus her eyes on the person holding her against the wall and she was finally able to gulp in a breath. Breathing heavily to make up for lost oxygen, her eyes focused and she saw a man in front of her. He was vicious.

"Jesus," she whispered. "This is not my night," she swore under her breath, unable to believe that she was going to get mugged for a second time in one evening.

This man was different, though. The guy who mugged her before was a jerk, but this guy, this guy's face looked insane. His eyes feasted on her like she was a Thanksgiving turkey and fear rose up inside her. This was the nightmare. This would be evil. She knew what was about to happen to her.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?" he said with an evil grin.

"Running into assholes, apparently," she replied, so exhausted she didn't have the strength to think about how to appropriately respond. A normal person might have been scared, but she'd been through this already tonight, and she was after all, different.

"Hey," he said, getting a knife and raising it to her throat. "Watch that pretty mouth of yours or I'll cut it open."

Okay…now she was scared. The knife shined a deep white under the streetlights.

"Okay," she said nervously. "What do you want? Money? I can give you money, I can do that, please just—"

"Shut up, I don't want your fucking money, you fucking cunt, and don't you dare scream," he said, pushing the knife against her, almost breaking the skin.

"Okay, okay, please, everything's gonna be fine, just tell me what you want," she cried, already knowing the revolting answer.

He put the knife in his pants quickly and tore her coat apart, ripping it halfway down her shoulders.

"I want some pussy," he said icily and she shivered in disgust.

"No please, don't do this, I'll do anything—"

"You're damn right you will," he said, removing the coat from her arms, again knocking her against the wall to hurt and weaken her.

She cried out in pain as he ripped her from the wall and onto the ground where he quickly straddled her waist, cutting off her ability to fight him with her legs. She protested as best she could and that irritated him enough that he got out the knife and let it sink into her skin of her thigh.

"That's a warning," he said, lifting the blade up as soon as it had blood on it.

_Okay, okay,_ she thought. _Calm down, he can only get so far before I'm able to use my mutation against him._ It would be hard, she hadn't been able to use it in awhile, but she would. She just had to breathe and stay quiet until he got there, no matter how much it hurt her. Maybe she could reach up and touch him now…no, he was completely covered and so was she, but not for long.

His gloved hands reached for her blouse and, too impatient, he ripped the material. She closed her eyes, attempting to block him out as she heard the buttons bounce in the alley. It rammed inside her head, the sound. A wave of nausea covered and sank into her, drenching her with disgust and fear.

"Please," she shivered, praying that this would end before he could do anything too harmful to her.

Suddenly though, her hands slammed back against the sidewalk, a little above her head. She had no control. She fought with the force that held her down but failed miserably. It was then that she knew he too was a mutant, and now more than ever, she was scared to death. His hand went to her jeans where he, despite her screaming protests, quickly yanked the buttons, sliding his hand beneath the denim to cover her.

_Why the hell won't he take off his gloves,_ she thought. If he would she could use her mutation against him and stop him! Tears fell from her eyes, angry tears, fearful tears. Her prayers grew more desperate, and the bile touched the back of her tongue, threatening to rise. He took the knife and sliced her underwear, and she sobbed painfully through her gritted teeth.

"You're scared so you're dry," he noted tonelessly. "I'll fix that."

Expecting him to attempt to arouse her, she was surprised when by no means of her own, she lubricated herself and he took his glove off and slid a finger deep into her. Infuriated, she realized his mutation must somehow be able to control what her body did and didn't do, despite how she felt about it. And he had just controlled the fluids in her body and made her wet! She wanted to cry, she wanted to retch and vomit and she wanted to kill him.

"Listen to me, don't do this, I'll give you anything you want, any-"

"Don't bother, I've heard it before," he said, taking her breasts out of the bra cups and squeezing them gently. "You better enjoy this, because this will be your last time."

"You're gonna kill me?"

"Yep, soon as I'm done with you. Can't risk you getting away and getting me caught."

When he enclosed his mouth over her nipple she screamed in revulsion and gagged a little. She strained to use her mutation as he abused her, but nothing happened. He could control her power too? She wished she'd die. She couldn't handle this, she couldn't survive this. He'd probably kill her afterwards anyway and do God knows what with her body.

_God, where are you and why aren't you helping me?_

When she saw him unzip his own pants she clenched her eyes shut to block it out as best she could. She shouted for help her inside her mind as the other voices screamed along with her own; but there was no answer from God or anyone else.

As she moaned painfully through clenched teeth and shut eyes, she felt his body weight being lifted from her. She opened her eyes to see that someone had pulled him off of her and suddenly he stabbed her rapist and the force holding her down disappeared as the guy crumbled to the floor.

She was terrified, trembling and breathing heavily with wide, frantic eyes. The man who saved her looked down at her and the look on his face turned to concern.

"Let me help you up-"

"DON'T! Don't…don't touch me," she shivered, hating that her naked, defiled body was being presented even to the person who'd helped her.

"Lady, I'm not gonna hurt you," he said, leaning down to help her, but she pulled away from him with a gut-wrenching sob.

"Don't! Don't because I swear to God, the next person who lays a hand on me I'll kill, even if it's you. Stay back, I don't want to hurt you, but if you touch me I will kill you!"

"Okay, okay, got it," he replied, stepping back.

She had the ability to use her mutation, and regardless of this man's intentions, she had turned her toxic skin on. For the first time in her life she was grateful that she had it. She groaned in physical pain as she pulled herself up to a sitting position, and paused briefly, trying to get her breathing back to normal and her nausea under control.

"Lady, if you're gonna throw up or hyperventilate-"

"Would you do me a favor and shut _**up**_ for a second," she half shouted, half sobbed. "If you'd give me a minute I'll calm down and the nausea will go away, just give me a minute! Please!"

She did manage to avoid throwing up. When she'd calmed down, she looked down at her body and held her breath, but that didn't stop her tears. She put her bra back on and then her jeans. Her underwear was cut and useless. She felt covered in filth and in a way she wished the guy who had saved her would go away because she was completely exposed and he had seen her body shrinking with revulsion.

There were a hundred questions he wanted to ask this violated woman, but she obviously wasn't up to chit-chat, so he waited even though he was burning with the need to do something more to help her. But she wouldn't let him.

With her bra and jeans back on, she tried to button her blouse but then remembered the buttons were gone.

"Here," the guy said, wrapping his jacket around her.

"T-thanks," she said, trembling. "What did you stab him with? Where's the knife?"

She'd asked, but should he tell her? She'd most likely flip out and the poor thing was already scared out of her mind and traumatized enough. He was saved from answering when the pig moaned in pain and she got up and rushed over to his body. She looked down at her rapist, and then realized it.

"Okay, you're a mutant, what the hell is your mutation? How did you do what you just did?" she said, leaning over her attacker.

She looked at his bleeding wounds and saw three of them. They went through his entire body. She looked at her savior.

"What did you stab him with?" she asked, curious.

"I have metal claws," he replied, shooting them out and causing her to jump. "Don't ask; I don't know where the hell they came from," he said.

Instead of flipping out though like he half expected her to, her face was covered in relief.

"Thank you," she said softly, tears slipping down her wet cheeks. She looked back at the man. "You _**so**_ picked the wrong woman to attack," she hissed. "I have a mutation too, and I'm going to kill you with it, and it's going to hurt a lot. You see you're my second attacker tonight, I've been held at gunpoint, I've been shoved and grabbed and then I had to watch him die in front of me, so I have no patience left in me. You're now going to receive something that will finally teach you what rape is."

She pulled her blouse to her sides to expose her white skin and her bra to him. Her creamy breasts scooped well over the tops of the cups and her flourishing skin was beautiful under the moonlight, yet violated at the same time.

"_**Why**_…why does this turn you on? Why does it feel so fucking good to have someone beneath you who is disgusted, terrified, and shrinking in revulsion beneath you? Please explain it to me!" she shouted at him.

The guy's eyes met hers but he said nothing.

"Fine, let me tell you what my mutation is. My mutation is that I can steal your mutation. You may be able to control mine but I can take yours. I can take your powers and kill you. You are gonna be in pain every second of it. I'm going to rape _**you**_!" she hissed.

"No, no don't!" he shouted as she lowered her now bare hands over him to touch his neck.

"Oh now I should take mercy on you?" she said, instantly being flooded with his ugliness. "Give me ONE good reason I shouldn't stop you from EVER being able to do this to another woman? Prison isn't ever a guarantee, especially with the way you can manipulate a person's body. You forced reactions from my body, and they won't even be able to prove that it was against my will! I'm a mutant. You think they'll help me?"

The extreme pain he felt caused him to shout more and more for her to stop.

"How does it feel?" she asked him, not letting go, watching him wither away. "It'll be over in a second and you'll be dead. That's the least I can do for humanity."

She felt him die inside her head. She released him and pulled back, wanting to get away from his body. He was loud inside her head; angry, revengeful, and weak. But she kept him quiet; she beat him down. The other people she'd collected over the years were nice enough to help. Forcing him to nothing more than a whisper, and then a memory, she prided herself on the strength she did have inside her mind. The control she'd gained had all been worth it.

The man who'd saved her came over to her and took her by her sleeved covered shoulders.

"Come on, okay, let it go now-"

"Let go of me!" she shouted, pushing him off of her. "Thank you for getting him off me but don't touch me! Please!"

The sirens in the distance were beginning to sound as if they were getting closer.

"Listen to me," he shouted back at her. "You have to come with me right now or else you're gonna pay for something that I see no reason why you shouldn't have done. Are you gonna shut up and let me get you out of here or are you gonna screw yourself even more by resisting me?"

She heard the sirens get louder. She was not about to go to prison for being a mutant who'd used her powers to stop more horror.

"I'm not going to prison," she said.

He grabbed her arm.

"Then come on," he said, dragging her down the street and shoving her into his truck before speeding away like a maniac.

She was breathing heavily and trembling.

"Do you need me to call someone for you?"

"There's no one to call," she replied.

"There's no one?"

"No, there isn't."

"Alright, let me take you to a hospital-"

"No! I just got out of there. I got mugged and held at gunpoint and I'm not going back!" she cried furiously. "I'm not gonna go back there so they can question me and probe me and wipe evidence off my defiled skin. The man's dead and it's not like the evidence would be helpful in putting him away; I stopped him myself."

"Well, yeah but what about pregnancy and diseases?" he said, looking over at her and almost missing the road in the process.

"Would you just concentrate on the road and stop looking at me like I'm…just _**stop**_ looking at me. I know he didn't have any diseases and my period ended yesterday. So if that's enough for you, just get me out of here and I'll find a way to pay you back. I can pay you whatever you want."

"Look! I'm trying to help you. How the hell do you know he doesn't have any diseases?"

"Because of my mutation! When I touched him I absorbed his powers and his memories, and whenever he rapes or has sex with someone, he can manipulate their blood and their fluids and he made sure that…that it wouldn't touch him. Okay? _**That's**_ how I know! I have his mind inside me now but at least I killed him. I'm glad I killed him," she sobbed.

"Fine, there's no one you want me to call? You don't want me to take you to a hospital. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to drive to Melanie Street, which is that way less than a mile, and let me get my bag of belongings out of there."

"Okay, now we're making progress."

When they got there he pulled up to the side of the road and stopped. He looked at her. She was frozen, staring ahead into nothing.

"Hey," he said, not knowing what her name was yet. "I'll go get it."

"No, no!" she said frantically, grabbing him. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me alone in here, please."

She then closed her eyes and calmed down.

"I'm sorry, okay. Just so you know I changed my skin back so that if by accident I touch you I won't hurt you, okay? I won't hurt you and I won't…I don't know what I'm gonna do but would you not leave me in this truck alone? I had a gun to my head and then I was raped, I'm really not up for anything else tonight."

"Okay, okay, calm down," he said, removing her hands from his shoulders. "Fine, come with me."

"Okay," she said and she got her bag out of the storage.

Before she knew it they were driving again. He was frantic to calm her down, to help her, even though communication was never his strong suit.

"Okay, you've gotta help me out here now. What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Rogue," she said, covering her eyes with her hand. "And I'm trying, I'm thinking, I'll think of something, would you just do me a favor and keep driving? I don't care where you go, just keep driving while I think."

"I'm not a taxi you know."

That was it. Fine, she'd give him something if he was such a goddamn asshole he couldn't just drive while she thought! She got her purse.

"You're not a taxi; you don't want me in here? Fine, here!" she said, throwing her money at him. "I'll pay you for stopping that guy and I'll pay you to just put up with me for a few minutes while I think of what the hell I'm going to do! I've got $700 here and you can have it and more if you'll just keep driving and protect me!" she cried at him.

He wanted to yell back at her but what the hell for? What was she really asking of him? To drive? He was the one who threw her in his truck in the first place and he'd scared her so bad that she'd thrown all her money at him.

"Look, I wasn't really planning this, but you tell me what you need me to do, okay?"

She removed her hands from her face and tried to push away the recurring nausea.

"T-talk about something else, please, just for a few minutes."

"Fine. You just threw $700 at me like that's an everyday thing?"

"One of the few things I have is money," she said, propping her elbow up against the console and placing her face in her hand.

"How much money? You're wearing a necklace with a bent clasp that didn't come from any place fancy."

"I don't like to dress like I'm rich because then people will only want one thing from me. Sudden, I'm only a bank. Every time I tell someone the only thing they can think of is how to get that money from me."

"So you're really rich," he said.

"Yes, I am."

"We talking millions?"

She sighed angrily and looked up at him.

"Millions would be a conservative estimate, yes."

"Then why the hell are you walking the streets at night instead of sleeping in a nice warm bed somewhere?"

"Because I'm on the run, okay?"

She saw the look in his eyes. She'd seen it a hundred times before.

"Listen to me, I don't know who you are, and I really am too terrified and fucked up right now to care, but I will pay you anything you want if you just drive me wherever you're going, I don't care if it's Alaska. I'll pay for everything on the way. Would you do that? Please?" she pleaded.

"What kind of trouble are you in?"

"I'm not sure yet. Would you just tell me yes or no so I can either relax or hop out of this truck and try to find someone else to get me the hell out of here?"

"How much you willing to pay?"

"You want a hundred thousand dollars?" she asked him angrily.

He looked at her like she was insane.

"What?" she blinked innocently. "I said I was worth…well like I said, millions is a conservative estimate. Do you want that? I just gave you $700 and if you just drive out of this town and take me to a hotel, I'll get you a hundred thousand dollars in the morning, in ADVANCE, before you take me anywhere else so you know you're not getting screwed, okay?"

She was going to give him a hundred thousand dollars? Just like that? No negotiating, no nothing. Something didn't make sense.

"Okay, you're willing to pay me a hundred thousand dollars to just keep driving 'till I stop? What the hell makes you trust me?"

"You saved my life tonight. If you were going to hurt me, I would assume you would've let him rape me and then you would've taken a turn yourself. And yeah, I'm willing to pay you that much. I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and I can give you whatever you need financially. Let me."

He looked at her face, so terrified and in shock and he'd have to be a way bigger asshole than he was to kick her out after he'd seen what had happened to her. This wasn't exactly how he liked to spend his nights either, but he'd involved himself, and now he was stuck.

"I'm not a charity case. I'll take you to a hotel and I'll take you along for the ride, fine. We'll work out the money details later."

He saw the relief wash over her face and she stopped breathing so heavily. She still trembled in fear and she still looked like she was in shock, but at least he'd given her one less thing to worry about. He continued driving but kept looking over at her every few seconds. She was scaring him. Wet tears hung at her chin and her ripped clothes were wrinkled and barely covering her degraded body.

He had no idea what to say so he said nothing until they got to the nearest hotel. When they got ready to go inside, he gave her his coat to cover what was obviously an attack on her. It was late, she was exhausted, and she was furious with what had been done to her. She handed the clerk one of her credit cards and waited.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she said quickly.

The clerk returned and handed her back her credit card.

"You've maxed out your hundred thousand dollar limit, ma'am."

"Oh," she said and pulled out another credit card. "Sorry about that, try this one."

He once again was startled and curious about who this woman was. There was obviously a lot more to her and her story than just tonight. She was in trouble and he wasn't particularly happy that he'd gotten involved in whatever this was, but at least there'd be someone to keep him awake on the way back to Montreal. And he'd get some extra cash for pretty much nothing. That was always a good thing.

They walked into their hotel room. There had only been one left and they decided to take it. She was too exhausted to go find another one. She set down her bag as he walked over to one of the beds and turned on the T.V. How like a guy.

"I'm…I'm gonna take a shower," she said, and walked into the bathroom.

He actually felt her pain with that comment. She felt dirty, that much was obvious. He could smell that guy on her too but he didn't think she could. She probably just felt disgusting in general, but she shouldn't. She hadn't agreed to anything, and that wasn't even remotely close to slutty. He could smell her tears now even through the walls and he turned up the volume to distract himself from smelling her pain.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her throat had dried blood on it from where the knife had cut her. She had black tearstains covering her cheeks. She hadn't realized they were that bad. No wonder the clerk asked her if she was okay. Her hair was everywhere, tangled and messy. Her shirt was torn, revealing her bra and bruised skin. She had to get out of her clothes.

Her cries for help echoed in her mind and she saw herself on the hard, snowy sidewalk, her arms being held down by his mutation, her body doing what he wanted it to do. She ripped off her clothes and climbed into the shower, turning the water hot…hotter…so hot that it almost burned her skin. She barely felt it though, all she knew was that it had to be hot to burn off the infection of his rape she was now trapped in. The beads of water hit her skin and bounced off, leaving behind the redness she felt inside of her body every bit as much as it remained on the outside.

She was now fueled by disgust, by revulsion and she ran her hands over her breasts, down her stomach to the area between her legs where all the anger stemmed. She rubbed that area harder and harder until all natural moisture was gone and she began to go numb. She wanted to destroy her skin and start over. She'd had experience in hating her skin, but this was different.

This time someone had injected themselves beneath it, and the grotesque feeling spread like a virus infecting its prey. She hated it. She knew she couldn't make it go away. She leaned back against the wall and cried. The noise that the shower made allowed her to feel safe sobbing. Of course, she didn't know her roommate's mutation yet, and that he could hear her perfectly. She looked down at her hands. Her perfect fingernails still had traces of his skin and her blood beneath them. She washed them off, trying to rid herself of any evidence the violence of tonight had imprinted upon her.

When her skin was shriveled from the water, she shampooed and conditioned her thick, shiny hair and stepped out of the shower. She took a towel and wiped the mirror free of the fog and looked at herself, and her naked body. She saw her vulnerability and it tore her apart. She looked at the thin laceration outlining her neck and felt the blood trickle down. She looked down at her ripped and torn clothes. She wanted to be rid of them.

She wrapped a towel around her body and brushed her teeth and hair quickly before emerging from the bathroom with nothing more than that towel on. She walked over to the trash can and tossed her clothes in it.

Logan watched her walk back into the bathroom. When she emerged again, she was clothed in warm pajamas with her brunette hair combed, and for the first time, he noticed the white strands at the front. She crawled into the bed, covered herself and laid still. She tried to listen to whatever the hell he was watching on TV and concentrate on that. She didn't want her mind to go back to the rape but she knew that was practically inevitable.

An hour passed and he thought she'd gone to sleep…until he heard her shivering and her teeth chattering uncontrollably. It sounded like she was developing hypothermia or something. He got up and sat on the edge of her bed, placing his hands over her covered body.

"Rogue?" he said, thankful that he'd remembered her name.

He'd never been too good at remembering women's names.

"I-I'm cold," she chattered.

He ripped the blanket off his bed and covered her with it. She was shaking beyond control.

"That's it! I'm taking you to a hospital."

"No you're not! I'm fine. I'm just…cold. I might be in shock but I'm not going to be monitored and scraped and questioned, got it?"

He sighed angrily. Why was she begin so goddamned difficult?

"Would you believe I'm not making a pass at you if I put my arms around you for body heat?"

She couldn't help but exhale a laugh at that, which surprised him. A laugh was the last thing he expected out of her tonight but he didn't have a problem with it. She was still shaking like there was no tomorrow.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, crawling onto the bed, remaining on top of the covers but pulling her to him to cover her body with his warmth. "You'll be warm in a minute," he promised her.

"T-thank you," she whispered. "I won't be this big of a pain in the ass tomorrow," she said.

"Why do I doubt that?" he growled.

Finally, she did stop shaking. His body warmth went into her and though it was a little terrifying to have some guy who shot metal claws out of his hands holding her, she figured that since he'd used the claws against her rapist she'd be fine. She tried to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She awoke the next morning when the sun blazed in her face. She opened her eyes to see him by the window reading the paper. She had a migraine.

"God, it's bright," she said, covering her eyes.

"Sorry," he said, but did nothing.

_Charming man,_ she thought. But what the hell, she wasn't paying him to be polite to her. She kicked the four thousand pounds of blankets off of her.

"Look I'm not trying to be a total asshole here, I mean I know you went through a tough night, but I'd like to get on the road as soon as possible."

"Fine," she said. "Let me take a shower and put some clothes on."

"You took a shower about three minutes before you went to sleep."

"Yeah, well, I'm feeling pretty dirty so if you'll give me twenty minutes we'll be on the road. If not, thank you for saving my ass and there's the door without a hundred thousand dollars."

As she slammed the bathroom door closed he realized that he hadn't had the urge to give someone a swift kick in the ass as badly as he wanted to give her one in a long time. He tried to remain sympathetic, but she was really pissing him off. However, in twenty minutes, they were on the road and she was being gracious enough to not talk the whole time like he half expected her to. He thought she'd be talking his ear off by now. She pulled out a magazine and began doing a quiz.

"Why do women find those so fascinating? It's total crap."

"Why do men find sports where all men do is hit a ball with some form of a phallic symbol fascinating?" she replied. "It's some strange form of biological makeup."

"You're southern, so what are you doing in California?"

"Just keeping myself moving as best as I can. I never asked your name, I take it it's not really Wolverine?"

"Where'd you get Wolverine from?"

"Your army tags," she said, her eyes still engrossed in the magazine. "That what you'd like me to call you?"

He wanted to smack her and hug her all that the same time. She was so fucking cool around him. He wasn't used to that. He bit his lip to keep from verbalizing his frustration.

"My name's Logan," he said through gritted teeth.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Rogue your real name?"

"It is now. You're the first person in I don't know how long that I've told Rogue was my name. I even have aliases for my alias."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty six," she replied. "Are the metal claws your mutation?"

"Not exactly. I heal."

"You heal," she repeated. "Maybe I'm slow but I'm not making the connection."

"I don't know what happened, somebody put the metal in me, and I think the only reason I survived was because I can heal really fast. You said something about your skin?"

"Yeah, I can kill people with my skin. But that guy was able to control my mutation so I couldn't until you'd stopped him. I absorb the person into me when I touch them."

"What do you mean?"

"I take in their memories, their thoughts, their mutation, even their personality traits, though that I've been able to suppress somewhat. I really hate my mutation, though, so I try not to use it if I can possibly help it."

"You absorb memories?"

"Yeah, along with a lot of other stuff."

"Can you recall the memories?"

"Yeah, usually, why?"

"The people who put the metal into me took my memory. I have no memories beyond fifteen years ago."

"I'm sorry about that. You were young too."

"Not that young, I don't think. I tend to not age, must be something along with the healing, it keeps me looking the same. I have no idea how old I am. But you could. If you touch me."

Rogue thought about it for less than a second. "No. No, you saw what I did to that guy, I killed him in a few seconds, I could kill you-"

"I told you, I heal fast-"

"I don't care! Logan, the memories are no good to you if you're dead! And I don't wanna hurt you, so forget it. I can't and I won't do that to you. I won't do it to myself either. No matter how much you helped me I'd really rather not have you in my head every minute for the rest of my life."

"So after all I've done for you you're not even gonna think about it."

She looked over at him.

"Hurting you the way I know I would? No, I'm not. If you want me to try to help you some other way, fine, but I'm not gonna pull you into me to see if I can find some memories of yours while you're lying at my feet in a coma or dead."

His angry eyes left hers and returned to the road. She could almost feel his anger coming off him and crawling onto her. She could tell by the way his teeth were clenched that he was going to hold this against her. She looked down at her hands.

"Logan, you have no idea what it's like to know that you can kill someone if you touch them for even a second. You have no idea what it's like to have them permanently inside of you, clinging to you like you're a life force. The first time I touched someone with my mutation I watched him shrivel up and struggle to breathe as he slipped into a coma. I watched his eyes looking at me with desperation, desperation for help. And then every thought he has, I hear inside me. Every time he's in pain, I feel it inside my head. I can't sleep because I hear him. I get headaches because I can't shut him out. So I put the person in excruciating pain at best, and I'm forever stuck with the memory that I hurt that person."

"I'm asking you to do it. I'm pretty sure in a few seconds I'd be good as new."

"Maybe that's true, but you have no idea what you're asking me to do and I can't even put into words right now the reason I can't…the reason I won't. Can you live with that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yeah, you could kick me out if you wanted to."

"There's no point to that," he said, and by the tone of his voice she understood that she should pretty much shut up and count herself lucky.

She pulled out her laptop and signed on. She was typing away and he wondered what she was so incessantly doing.

"What are you doing?"

"Transferring some money elsewhere to throw whoever's following me off track."

"Who's following you?"

"I don't know," she said.

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't. I don't know who they are or why they want me."

Rogue closed her laptop and got out a water bottle and swallowed some pills.

"What are those?"

"They're pills."

"I got that, what are they for?"

"They keep my blood pressure up and my thyroid healthy so I don't get too weak when I haven't eaten in awhile."

"You need to eat?"

"Well no, the pills will kick in."

He rolled his eyes.

"If you need to eat, tell me, you don't have to take drugs."

"I skip meals all the time Logan, you kinda have to when you're on the run."

Logan saw a diner off the highway and drove to it.

"Still, food is better for you than pills, so let's eat."

Once inside, she began looking at the menu, and she noticed he was eyeing the place.

"What?" she asked.

"I just that remembered that I've been here. Couple months ago, imagine that."

"Small world," she said and returned to the menu.

"Well, hello handsome," a redhead said, coming over to their table making goo-goo eyes at Logan.

Rogue rolled her eyes. This woman was at least a double D and had extremely vacant eyes meaning her IQ was not as developed at her breasts were. Rogue saw Logan's eyes scan for her nametag and she suppressed a smile as she looked down.

"Hey, Donna, long time," he said.

Donna looked at Rogue, then Logan, and Rogue heard her silent question.

"Oh, no," Rogue confirmed. "No, we're not together. I'm paying him to drive me somewhere, that's all. Uh, can I have a number five?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sure, honey, and you'll be having your usual, Logan?" she flirted and Rogue smacked her lips together to keep from laughing.

"Uh, yeah," Logan said, catching the expression on Rogue's face.

"Coming right up," Donna said.

"What?" Logan said.

Rogue kept her lips together and tried to swallow her laugh.

"Nothing," she said, looking out the window, but the smile crept back. "It was just cute that you couldn't remember her name."

"Really," he said. "You know, most women find that offensive."

"Yeah, well I'm lucky enough not to be dating or interested in you," she smirked back.

Rogue looked at the counter where four guys sat in a row smoking cigarettes, ogling her. She tried to ignore it and concentrate on Logan or the food that hadn't arrived yet.

"So uh…what's in Canada?" she asked.

"Some answers, hopefully," he said.

"You're hoping you may find answers about who you were before the incident?"

The incident?

"Something like that, yeah."

He noticed that her eyes went back and forth between him and the few guys at the counter.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, removing the napkin from her lap and putting it back on the table. "Excuse me for a second," she said, getting up out of the booth.

It took all of Rogue's strength just to go out the front door of the tiny diner and take some deep breaths, rather than lose it or make a scene for those guys looking at her like she was a piece of meat. Her boots met the ground harshly and she nearly tripped. She leaned her hand against the wall of the diner and worked to calm herself. When a pair of strong hands fell on her shoulders she yelped and swung around getting ready to defend herself.

"God," she exclaimed, breathing heavily in and out.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Her face was drained of all color and her breaths were uneven and sharp. Her wide eyes were terrified and she looked like she was going to throw up.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she breathed, and turned away from him to concentrate on breathing.

"Rogue, you're not fine. You're anything but fine and if you don't tell me what's wrong I'm gonna have to take you to a hospital."

"It's nothing big, it's just those guys in there, all giving me those looks like I was a plate of food they could eat anytime they wanted. I'm used to that, but right now I'm scared, I'm angry, I'm sore, my neck hurts every time I turn my head because that guy slit it, and my body aches and I just don't need anyone else making me feel inferior," she said, covering her eyes as two silent tears fell down her face.

"And this is SO not your problem. I understand that, and I'm sorry, I'll get over it. Just give me some time."

"Hey, you know what, it's okay. It's been what, five and a half hours since it happened? You're welcome to still feel it, but I want you to know that no one's gonna touch you, okay?"

That was huge for him to say, she realized. To be gentle and warm was probably not something he felt he was too good at. She let it go because of his words and reached for his hand. She just barely touched it, thinking that getting touchy/feely on him might be a bit inappropriate.

"Thank you," she said.

~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next hotel was different. Separate rooms. She could do what she wanted and he wouldn't know. He couldn't stop thinking about what she was doing on the other side of the adjoining doors. He wanted to check on her, but that would make him look weak, like he cared. And she'd use that against him. They always did. But maybe she wouldn't because she didn't want any more to do with him than he her.

He was afraid that she would hurt herself. She said she was fine, but they call rape a fate worse than death. She was at least giving him enough courtesy to not pull him into the healing phase, and he was used to being the one who turned away from people, from their emotions, from their words…from their presence.

But she didn't ask for his presence. She kept to herself until that one moment when she actually had the fucking gall to laugh at him. Laugh at him for communicating for two seconds with that waitress who had given him a great night, released a lot of tension. She laughed at him. And it wasn't flirty or snobby or even bitter.

She didn't give him any attitude or crap about how he used women either, just that one laugh.

He'd helped her and he'd saved her. And now he felt like he wanted to keep saving her. But she didn't want that. She didn't want to look at him as her God or savior, but as a hired bodyguard and driver. Why? He didn't know a thing about her and wasn't sure he wanted to. That would ruin the image. The belief.

He wasn't Wolverine when he ripped that guy off of her. Hell, he wasn't even Logan. He was someone else. Maybe who he used to be. But who was that? She took that guy's memories. She knew what he was and what he'd done. Could she tell him? Was she not just someone he'd come across, but someone who could find another piece of the puzzle?

It was too soon to ask, too soon to ask anything. Right now she was scared, right now she was running, and he had to help. And the hardest part was he didn't know why.

What the hell was wrong with checking on her?

He tried to turn the knob. It was locked. No shock; if she could she'd probably lock them in so securely that a SWAT team couldn't get through. He'd pick the lock. He didn't want to scare her, so he'd open it quickly and reassure her. But when he did, he saw no one. Her bed had been touched, the covers thrown back, a glass of water on the nightstand, but she wasn't there.

The nightstand light was on. He stepped into her room and closed the door. He felt a cool breeze and saw the drapes floating with it. The sliding balcony was door open, as well as the tiny fridge. No mystery what she'd taken out of it.

He walked over to the balcony and through the doors. She was there. She wore a black lace bra and a tiny nightgown over it. Her smile was exaggerated and she held a crystal glass filled with heavy alcohol in her hand. Her hair was up in a ponytail, but the white tendrils fit closely around her face, echoing the light of the moon. Her makeup was faded and her skin was bruised. The cut around her neck was still visible.

"Don't look so surprised," she told him and looked away.

She looked over the balcony at the town, lit up, so fake and full of it to her, and yet the lights swayed inside her deflated vision. She pulled the crystal glass up to her lips and drank, hating the taste but loving the effect, her beautiful hands encircling the fragile glass.

"And don't look at me like a father would, either. I can barely stand up but I know exactly what I'm doing. I'll be fine in the morning, but I had to kill it. You understand, kill the fear of it happening again."

She laughed into the glass at his sympathetic eyes.

"Go to bed, Logan. No one's paying you for this. You're a mutant. You know what it's like. One minute you're feared, the next minute you realize it's a mutant staring down at you, knowing your power and knowing he can use it to his advantage."

She sipped more as her free hand clung to the railing as she dangled over it in her tipsiness.

"You should be taking care of yourself," he stated.

"You expect me to want that? What…to be healthy? Why would I want to be healthy? My body turned against me Logan. You understand that, you saw what I did. And I can do it again."

"Your skin," he said softly.

Her painted lips left the glass and she was as serious as she had ever been. She swallowed and breathed out cold air.

"Do you know what it's like?" she asked as she looked over the city. "I had to leave. I had to get out and someone picked me up. He touched me and he is now in a hospital, for the rest of his life. Looking down at him…took my fucking breath away," she wavered, her voice cracking as tears pricked her eyelids.

"And I hated my body. I did every single evil thing I could to it. I tried to kill it. I had all the money in the world and I was trapped inside something evil that I couldn't control. And I hated it. I hated me."

She took another sip, rather a gulp, of the liquor.

"And like you I wandered. I traveled. And then one day I found myself caught between life and death and someone pulled me into life, curing me of what I hated more than anything."

"How?" he asked.

"I don't know. But it worked. But by that point the damage was done. I was too tired to play at twenty-five. I'd gone to school. I'd done what they'd said. I'd learned to do what they told me not to and I never thought I'd ever wish to be trapped again. Trapped inside something evil. I raped, Logan, I really did. I took things from people that weren't mine to take. Sure, maybe it wasn't my fault but my skin did it anyway, didn't it? And one night not so long ago someone showed me what I had done."

"Don't look at it that way," Logan replied, wanting to rip the glass away from her and tell her it was different. "Rogue, you can't think like that."

"Don't act like I'm blaming myself, Logan, I'm not. I don't regret what I did, I murdered him. I don't know what that makes me, but I'm glad he's not walking around, lurking behind some tree ready to jump out and attack someone else."

Another gulp.

"But he raped me, didn't he?" she sighed now, looking him right in the eye. "And hell, if you hadn't seen him do it you'd be hitting on me right now in some local restaurant, not knowing I could kill you in three seconds. And who could blame you, either?"

"You should lay down-"

"No, I should punch you in the face for trying to talk me out of ANY momentary escape I could possibly have from the sheet that has now hardened around me, following every step I take. It's there Logan. It's with me. I feel what he did to me and I need this drink. I need this drink and any other drink that can wipe the smell of his sweat from my skin and the pounding of his voice from my ears. There are no morals now, Logan. I can afford to sip alcohol for the rest of my life but I will do it without you. You tried to save me and I thank you, but every time I take a breath, it chokes me and I don't want your eyes, your sad, aching eyes staring into me. So go to sleep, wake up, and get the hell away from me."

She turned back to the view, placing both her arms over the railing for support, barely able to hold the glass that she now saw as her haven.

"Please," she said again. "I don't want you to take me anywhere, I don't want you to protect me, and I don't want you saying something stupid like it'll pass. Let me go."

"Go where?" he asked.

She downed the final drop and exhaled.

"Disappear," she told him.

She waited and he didn't leave. She reversed her skin, making it lethal.

"I'm not going to lie down right now, and I'm not going to stop drinking."

"You could lose your balance-"

"Then I'd lose it!" she snapped. "Then I'd fall off and die. Call me crazy but that doesn't exactly seem like a big deal right now. Look, even though you saved me, your presence still freaks me out so would you go away?"

"Rogue, you've been drinking, I don't want you to kill yourself."

"That's not your decision now is it?" she replied. "I'm not going to kill myself. Not tonight. That's something that will take up more energy than I've got."

"If your intentions are just to get drunk than why do you want me to leave so badly?"

"Because I want to be alone."

"Was it your first time?"

Her eyes blazed in anger.

"Meaning what exactly? That it would somehow be LESS? That the trauma should be less?"

"I'm…just asking."

"No, it wasn't."

"Why are you angry at me?"

"Because all I HAVE right now is anger! If you don't like it, go, please. I'm not asking you to stand here and be my therapist. You said you didn't want to be my charity case."

"Doesn't mean I couldn't use that money," he replied coldly.

He had done everything for her and she was giving him attitude!

She turned her face back towards his, her vision of him coming down in pieces as she felt the cool glass slip from her fingers, and heard it shatter below. As he pulled her down, she grabbed the railing and felt his hands on her waist, her clothed waist.

"I don't wanna hurt ya," she managed as she blinked furiously to get a clear picture. "I'm not turning off my skin though."

"That's fine," he replied, gently lifting her up and putting her down in her bed.

She was giving into the drowsiness, still whispering words as if she were awake. Not to him though. She was somewhere else and working her mouth off.

"Shhh," he said, trying to hush her.

She quieted slowly as she went into full sleep-mode, and he pushed a lock of hair from her closed eyes with his fingers, not giving enough time for her skin to hurt him.

~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Come on, get up!" she barely heard him say.

Her head pounded, her skin ached, she felt nauseas and consumed by fatigue.

"Come on, Rogue, get up," he said again, this time right next to her.

She moaned in response.

"Time to go, get up-"

"Shut UP!" she finally shouted. "Go! Nice journey, best wishes, GOOD NIGHT!"

She fell back into a deep sleep and was awakened by a loud thump. When her eyes opened, she was somewhere else. She was moving. Where the hell was she? She looked up and saw him driving. She was in the back of his stupid-ass truck! If her head didn't hurt before, it sure did now.

"Oh my God, LOGAN! What did you do?"

"Come up here and I'll tell you."

He was expecting her to move? She lazily crawled up to the front of the truck, climbing over the seat beside his and sitting in it.

"I got you some coffee," he said, handing her the cup.

"Did you bother to bring anything else for me to wear?"

"Don't give me attitude today. Would you have preferred I changed you myself? No, so shut up and drink this."

She sipped the coffee slowly.

"How did you carry me out of there without anyone noticing?"

"I didn't go out the front," he replied.

"Did you leave them money? Am I a fugitive now for theft?"

"Relax, I paid - rather…you paid."

"If I go back there and change and you look once-"

"Quit flattering yourself-"

"Oh shut up!" she replied, climbing over the seat again.

XxX

She was wearing gloves. INSIDE. What was she doing? She was sitting there reading a Cosmo with headphones on with GLOVES! Did she really think he was going to do something to her?

He reached over to tap her arm, but before he got there, she inhaled a scream and shot backwards, looking at him with big, terrified eyes. Seeing it was him, she pulled her headphones down.

"Sorry," she replied, catching her breath.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he stated.

"Yeah, I know," she replied.

"Do you? Then what's up with the gloves?"

"They're for protection."

"I told you I'm not going to do anything to you."

"Not for me, for you. I'm keeping my skin turned on and I don't want you to accidentally touch it."

"Forever? Is that how you're going to live? Covered head to toe to protect everyone from you?"

"For now. Don't start being my therapist, Logan, I'm way past that. I'm sorry I'm being a total bitch to you, but I'm not that much easier of a person than you are."

"I'm being a prince."

She grinned slightly, appreciating the sarcasm. "I know. And I know you want me to help you and you're damn near foaming at the mouth in your anger at me, and I thank you for not nagging me about it. I keep saying you don't know what I'm going through, but I think in a way you do. You can identify somewhat with rape."

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone forced something into your body without your consent. They medically raped you by inserting something into your skin and then stealing something from you that you may never get back. You can't go back and neither can I."

He wasn't especially comfortable with her making that comparison, because it showed he had a weakness that he didn't want. So he changed the subject back to her.

"So who are you?"

"A rich girl turned dangerous mutant on the run."

He looked at her purse and saw a home pregnancy test sticking out of it. He immediately felt his blood pressure rise.

"You think you're pregnant?"

"No, but I'm taking the pregnancy test anyway. I can take it in three more days. They're good enough to detect pregnancy at five days. I've got some anti-infection serums that will kill any possible sexually transmitted he gave me. Before I was thinking like a victim. Now I'm thinking like a doctor. I'd just rather be safe than sorry."

"How are you getting all these drugs?"

She didn't like to give out facts about herself. But she took a deep breath and told him.

"Went to medical school."

"You're a doctor?"

"Yeah."

"You're too young. Didn't you say you were 26?"

"I was a rich girl, I told you that. I was home-schooled, so I was in college by 15, and it was in Canada, and they require fewer years to give you your license. I didn't quite finish completing my field. I couldn't keep my mutation to myself forever though. Managed to for years with latex gloves, that kind of thing, but after putting that first guy into a coma indefinitely, I wanted to try to find a way to wake him up. I was an intern and one of my superiors was just about to find out and someone attacked me who I knew was a mutant, a _**strong**_ mutant, so I split. I was kinda the heir to the fortune in my family. They know I'm still alive but I have my trusted employees managing my money for me, and I can watch their every move. They make the slightest wrong move they're out of a job and a nice check every other week."

"Sounds a bit harsh."

"I have to be. The dynasty's dead, now there are just a bunch of distant asshole relatives squirming for a share of what they didn't earn. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to go around and I'll give them more than they deserve, but just because I'm on the run doesn't mean I'm still not in control. It's nice to have control over one thing at least."

"So, doctor and sole heir to a dynasty and a mutant with killer skin with people trying to kill you. Interesting."

"_**Almost**_ a doctor, but technically, yeah. I can still write prescriptions. It's complicated."

"K yeah, got it, it's complicated. So where's this pharmacy?"

"Couple miles. Thanks so much, forgot to tell you earlier."

"Not a problem."

~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Several days had passed as well as several states, and she'd taken the antibiotics in order to prevent the sexually transmitted diseases and she'd also taken the pregnancy test. She was going to be fine…and she had no idea what she was doing to Logan with each passing day they spent together.

She still wore her gloves and though she felt far more comfortable with him, she still refused to turn off her skin. She was driving him insane though. He wanted to touch her and it pissed him off that he couldn't – his timing couldn't be worse. He even tried to make her jealous by sleeping with someone else. He hadn't really expected that he would sleep with another random woman, but Rogue was not taking off her fucking gloves or even particularly paying attention to him, so he slept with the random woman anyway. He had to have somebody.

Finally, one not especially particular part of the drive, he abruptly stopped the car and decided to touch her anyway. So she had her skin on, so she'd absorb some of him into her. Big deal. When she looked at him with a 'what the hell are doing' expression on her face, he reached for her cheek and brought her mouth to his, kissing her hard, over and over. He felt her sucking the life out of him, but he kept going regardless.

Rogue's panic mode went on as she slowed her skin down as fast as she could until it stopped and the she smacked him in the head to get him off of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she cried, her fingers going to her now slightly swollen lips.

Maybe she shouldn't have hit him; he was dazed. She was trying to align him into her system…separately from her. He was inside her body, swimming through her veins. She could feel the testosterone filling up inside her, and his memories and emotions enflamed within her, hurting a bit because of how fast they were slamming into her, and he saw her slight pain.

"Rogue, did I hurt you?"

She clutched a hand to her forehead.

"You're inside of me, I'm trying to process it, give me a minute."

He'd prefer to be inside of her in a completely different way, and though he felt like a jerk since she'd been assaulted not that long ago, he'd kissed her anyway; he'd done it.

He watched to see the pain lessen, but as it abated, she felt his desire that he had for her course through her. His want for her flooded into her, passionately making her want him back. When she opened her eyes and looked up at him, he took his chance and pulled her to him again. He climbed onto her and pulled the retractor to her seat down, the impact startling her a little as he unclasped her seatbelt.

His tongue was sliding against her own, licking up her taste before running the tip of it along the shell of her ear, making her shiver. He brought his mouth to hers, and her wish was being granted when he pressed himself hard over her, his greedy mouth prying her lips apart and exploring her wet recesses. She felt a jolt of plain desire crash through her, feeding the soaring adrenaline as her fingers plunged into his hair, pulling his body down harder onto hers.

There was no fear in her, no hesitation, no nothing. She knew that was him inside her veins, and frankly, she didn't care.

Logan slid a hand between their bodies, undoing her pants and unable to do it fast enough as she undid the buttons of his shirt swiftly, and harshly. The sensual ripples coiled down her spine into her abdomen, and she could feel that piece of his mind now safely tucked into her own, and it only made her want him more.

He tore her hands away from his shirt and angrily ripped off her gloves. She raked her teeth sharply at his shoulder, and his fingertips pressed against her back as he pulled her up against his body. His hands then snaked up to unclasp her bra, pulling it from her so fast that it hurt, and she moaned painfully into the kiss.

"Sorry," he whispered, bending down to apologize, his hot mouth consuming a tightened nipple.

She gasped; it almost hurt to feel him suck her because it wasn't enough. She arched her back against him wanting to crack the passion through her and release all of the incredible need she now had flowing inside her system. Slipping a hand behind her neck, he arched it up to nibble on it roughly as he placed himself at her slickened opening, knowing that she was completely healed from what had happened before. He slammed into her as his tongue darted out at the hollow of her throat, finally satisfying the first crash of raw desire he'd implanted inside her and she moaned, her nails digging into his neck as he still hungrily nipped the flesh of her throat.

She clenched herself around him, feeling his reaction immediately, and he shuddered and convulsed against her in response. She raised her hips up to meet his as his fingers dug into her skin. He kissed her again, quieting her protests as the pleasure came with satisfaction and yet another hard clash of pure hunger needing to be fulfilled. One of her arms wound its way around his neck, lifting her slightly with each thrust, but she wanted his mouth on her at all times. She felt it all rise against her like layers, each thrust giving some satisfaction but leaving behind another layer of thriving thirst inside her, and she felt him reaching his climax. The force of his triggered her own and she pulled his face up to kiss him hungrily, wanting to feel him moan into her mouth when he slammed into her the last time, and then, to cover her, and feel the ache and the need satisfied.

This they did, until suddenly and unexpectedly, she felt the leftover passion slide out of her too fast, only to fill her back up with that cold, gut-wrenching fear she couldn't control.

"Please get off me," she said.

He lifted his head, still not completely recovered from their passion.

"What?"

"I said get off me," she said, pushing him up and off of her, moving from underneath him back into a sitting up position as she reached for her clothes to put them back on.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"This was insane," she said, pulling her shirt back over her head. "I'm sorry, it's not you."

"You're right, it's you. You've been waiting for the first opportunity to get your hands on me since we got on the road. But you can't face it."

Instead of blowing up at him like he half expected her to, she gave him a small smile and got out her wallet.

"I'm not about to sit here and take this from you, so here's your money," she said giving him six hundred dollars. "You kissed me, don't forget that Logan. And you can go to hell while I hitchhike with someone else."

She opened the door of the truck but he grabbed her arm harshly, not letting her out.

"You're not going anywhere. We had a deal and I'm going to fulfill it. You don't get to run from me now, Rogue. Just because you can't handle that someone did touch you, you're planning to run scared. Well forget it. You were paying me, and I figured that for the money I owed you a little more, so don't flatter yourself into thinking it was anything else. Believe me, I wouldn't have touched you otherwise."

And before she could say anything else he pressed the accelerator to the floor so that opening the door and jumping out would pretty much be suicide. He wanted her to feel the humiliation. He wanted her to be stuck with him after what he'd just said to her to hurt her. She knew that. And it did. She lightly covered her eyes as two tears slid down her cheeks. She made no noise so had he not seen the tears he wouldn't have noticed they were there. She wiped them away casually and leaned back against the seat.

Being stuck in a car with him was obviously her only choice, but she hated him a little more with each second that passed. She tried to calm herself though and convince herself that this wouldn't be the worst experience ever, that she'd hurt his pride and that's why he was being such a pig. She understood why he was pissed off at her. After they sleep together she just pushes him off? If their roles were reversed, she would be highly offended too. She had to let it go. He was angry and his ego was bruised; he wouldn't listen to anything she had to say right now.

Just as she began to doze off Logan brought the car to a harsh stop and her body jerked forward in response as her eyes shot open. Where were they? She saw they were on a deserted, twisting road surrounded on both sides with forests.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

He didn't answer, but instead opened the car door and slammed it shut. God, she adored his charming communication skills. She watched him walk around the front of his truck and over to her side, surprising her when he opened her door.

"What are you doing?" she asked him again.

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of her seat onto the ground.

"What are you doing, throwing me out?" she asked as he pulled her far enough away from the door so that he could shut it behind her.

Then he pushed her back against the car and covered her body with his. It was then that she knew exactly what he was doing and why.

"Logan, look, I know I pissed you off and I can't undo that but please don't—don't do this to get even with me," she pleaded.

"You have no idea what I'm going to do," he replied smoothly, his hands going to her shoulders to push down the material of her shirt.

She tried to shrug his hands free. He wasn't going to sleep with her. That much she knew. He was going to touch her and keep touching her until she was on the brink of losing it and then he'd stop to make sure she understood frustration. She wasn't stupid.

"Logan, I am sorry and you don't understand why I did what I did."

His mouth came down fiercely on hers and she made a little noise of surprise at his abruptness. She tried to turn her head from his but he crushed her lips, parting them and demanding that. His hands were working to push her sleeves down and then her bra straps. When she was just about to get her mouth free he gripped her throat, holding it still and against the back of the car door, plundering her mouth even more as if in consequence of her actions.

He knew he got to her; he knew they had sexual tension between them and that she wanted him to kiss her. But she knew this was not an act of desire at all, that it was an act of revenge. She felt one of his hands slide down her stomach to her jeans and felt his fingers unbuttoning them. She managed to break her mouth free for an instant.

"You piss me off like nobody's business, you know that?!?" she exclaimed, only to have his mouth cover hers again.

His mouth refused to release hers and finally she needed to breathe. She reached up one of her hands to his face and tried to push his mouth away. Succeeding barely she sucked in a breath and then felt her face being pushed upwards, and his hungry mouth attacking her neck. She closed her eyes, the heat building in her, but more the fear of how this would end. When she felt his mouth trace itself down to her chest, and his hand slip inside her pants she jerked back.

"Okay, okay, I get it," she said, breathing in short, ragged breaths as she finally got him to stop and look at her. "I really made you mad at me. I'm sorry, but please don't do this, Logan," her words were interrupted by a quick gasp from her as his fingers probed her most secret place.

"Don't," she whispered, completely consumed by him.

Logan's free hand slipped up behind her back, taking a handful of her hair and pulling it, drawing her face up, and she gasped, half in pain and half in pleasure. Realizing that he wasn't going to say anything, but instead continue to tease and taunt her body, she tried to believe he wouldn't do what she was expecting and tried relaxing slowly.

She leaned back against the truck, fighting with the fear and tension inside her mind and the desire that was building deep inside her. She felt the heat from his body that he kept against hers, not just covering her, but keeping her from moving. She took her hands and tried to pull his hand from her, but he was stronger than her, so she fought with her whole body, trying to move him off of her. He knocked her back, holding her firmly in place, sliding his hand under her shirt, exposing her bare midriff. The night air collided with her sensitive skin and elicited goose bumps and a shiver.

"Logan-"

He cut her off again, taking her words and dismissing them as he captured her mouth, not only kissing her deeply, slowly, and sensually, but seducing her into letting him have control over her. She didn't know what to do, to go along with it to show him she hadn't meant what he thought before, or keep fighting because he was now trying to demolish her pride.

She had never wanted to hurt him, so she tried to respond, to touch him, to make him happy. Maybe he would feel her apology in her kisses. Allowing herself to fall completely under his control, she felt his hand slip lower, to her stomach, briefly stopping as if to mark her skin as his own. His fingers smoothed over the soft flesh, lingering there as his mouth stopped and he just held his lips gently against hers. She held her breath to keep from responding as he caressed her fluttering stomach.

Lazily, his hand crept lower, to the thin elastic trim of her underwear. His hand dipped lower as his fingers curved over her and squeezed gently. Rogue gasped, and instantly one of his fingers slipped inside of her. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades as she fought with the thought of him stopping just as she was on the brink or orgasm. Would he really do that? What was she thinking? Of COURSE he would, that's what this is all about. Simple revenge, a taste of her own medicine.

"Logan," she managed to breathe. "I know what you're doing, don't…you said-"

"Shut up," he whispered, encircling her neck with his hand and squeezing.

When he was sure she agreed he let her neck go.

The truthful illusion of him moving his fingers inside her sent wave after wave of shocking pleasure through her. Involuntarily, her whole body lifted itself, slowly, but dramatically. The pressure from his hand left her gasping for her next shallow breath, and as her climax grew closer, she knew he would stop just when it would hurt her and frustrate her the most. She stopped moving with him, she clenched her eyes shut in self-disgust, trying to block out what he was doing to her.

"Don't do that, don't fight me," his lips said against her ear.

She whimpered as his fingers slipped out of her and caressed her swollen sex, lavishly teasing her.

"Don't hold back," he whispered, his breath hot and wet against her neck.

She exhaled a sad laugh.

"No, you wouldn't want that, would you?" she said, opening her eyes to look at him. "You want me to be as turned on as possible before you stop and leave me at the height of desire just so you can humiliate me as revenge."

"You have no idea," he hissed.

"Oh God…" she whispered, wishing she could hold onto him at this moment, wishing this wasn't an act of anger.

Her body leapt again, beginning to soar. Her head fell against his chest…and she felt weightless, and more upset by the second. Two very different things were going on inside of her, battling each other and she couldn't stop either one of them. Please…more…

She gripped his arm for support as he trailed his way once again past her chest, her stomach, her hips. She held onto him as his finger circled the heating ache of her over and over again.

She could feel her climax approaching, her body tensing, getting ready to explode from the inside out. Her lungs worked over time, leaving her head swimming in a collage of sensations. She tried to brace herself for him stopping at the most crucial moment.

"Logan, don't hurt me," she pleaded.

He kissed her.

"Shh, don't think that I'm doing that," he said, attempting to calm her fears.

He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, touching her forehead with his, his hot breath falling over her soft lips. He held the back of her neck firmly, giving her support as his fingers probed and teased harder and faster.

At that moment Logan's thumb pressed against her core and she climaxed into the mindless rapture of the passion that flooded her thick, pulsating veins. She gasped loudly as she surrendered to her climax, her head spinning in a thousand directions. She gripped Logan's jacket, burying her face into his shoulder, waiting for everything to still again.

Finally she lifted her exhausted self up to look at him. Her face was glistening with perspiration as her breaths slowly returned to normal. His expression was back to where it was at the beginning of this, toneless, careless, and harsh. He removed her hands from his shoulders and walked back over to his side of the truck.

She was left standing there in shock for a few seconds. He'd said it wasn't about anger, or at least that's what she'd thought he'd said. But standing there, spent, she realized that he had every intention of bringing her to orgasm, but the motive behind the act was still the same. He wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Well, she decided, he did that. He got his wish. But she didn't have to put up with it. Rogue walked herself back to the truck, opened her door and pulled out her bag, dropping it on the ground in front of her.

"You must be very proud of yourself," she said, looking at him. "You got what you wanted. You made me feel like a first class whore, thank you. I _**so**_ needed that from you. Especially after what I've been through this week. I think that's all I can really take from you," she said, shutting the door.

She picked up her bag and went over to a very large rock and sat down on it, placing her face in her hands. She wasn't crying, not even close to that, instead she shook her head in disbelief and then she exhaled, drained from everything that had happened. She gave a small yelp when his hand roughly encircled her wrist.

"Rogue, you're not going to survive out here. There's nothing for miles, and God knows what lives in these woods."

She yanked her hand back.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'll wait for another hitchhiker if I have to."

"That's intelligent. You think I'm bad, darlin' you just wait and see."

She stood up to him, her eyes looking harshly into his.

"I'm strong, I can survive without you, and at this particular moment I'd choose death over you. Get in your truck, and go to hell."

She turned away from him and began to walk. He tried to grab her shoulder but she whirled around and pushed him off of her, making a run for it. He ran after her and jumped on her, wrapping his arms around her so that when he crashed to the ground, she would be right there with him.

They landed with a thump, and she whimpered in pain as his body crushed hers.

"Ow," she cried, a rock smashed up against her ribcage.

His body covered hers, his arms encircling her, trapping her. She felt the dirt on her face.

"Let me turn over," she pleaded.

He carefully turned her body over so she that was on her back. Seeing her wince in pain, he reached behind her back and removed the rock from beneath her. She coughed and felt the bruises form on her skin from where he had grabbed her and where she had landed.

"Is there any chance you might get the HELL off me? Cause that'd be really great," she sighed.

"Rogue, look at me," he said and she coughed again, wiping the dirt off her face. "Look at me!" he shouted and she did. "I'm not leaving you stranded in the dirt."

"Oh yes you are," she said, but was unable to move because of his weight over her. "Get off me."

He took the back of his hand and brushed the remaining dirt from her cheek. He was straddling her waist, nearly cutting off the circulation in her legs. Her back still ached from the fall and it wasn't a comfortable position.

"Logan," she said firmly.

"I'm not gonna do anything to you," he assured.

What was that? Did he think he was somehow a prince for letting her know that? Like he was so honorable for NOT hurting her anymore tonight than he already had? She wasn't a fucking doormat!

"Oh well thank you so much for informing me, but you're DOING just that by making me look into your face!" she shouted, trying to squirm out from under him.

"Stop, STOP!" he shouted back and she did, for the moment.

She didn't want to be looking at him. She didn't want his eyes looking at hers. She didn't want his hands around her wrists.

"Just let me up," she said softly.

"Tell me what is going on."

"Fine! Just let me up and I'll tell you whatever you wanna know."

He raised himself off of her and pulled her up by her wrists. She took a few deep breaths and coughed the rest of the dirt out of her mouth.

"Okay, you want me to talk, fine. When I told you to get off me…before, I wasn't trying to offend you or imply that I hadn't wanted it also or anything like that-"

"Then why?"

She wanted to hit him for even asking.

"Logan!" she cried. "For God's sake, how did we meet?" she exclaimed.

Everything inside him went cold. Fear rose up in him as he saw her lean against a tree and turn her face away.

"Wait, Rogue, Rogue!" he said, rushing to her and turning her around. He tipped her face up with his fingers. "Rogue, did I just remind you of that?"

She was tired. She looked at him with moist eyes.

"Just go," she pleaded softly, wiping a fallen tear.

He ripped her to him for a secure embrace, holding the back of her head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sincerely. "I'm sorry," he said again and again, kissing her hairline as he kept her in a protective hold.

She felt his back through his shirt, and then she realized she was reciprocating the embrace and pulled back.

"No, you didn't remind me of him, but it crept up on me and gripped me in the truck, squeezing any passion out. Now that's the truth and I couldn't control it, and I was terrified. Not of you, and not logically. My body and my fear don't really consult me these days and it overtakes any common sense I may have. It choked me and I couldn't breathe at that moment with you on top of me. I've never been so scared of anything in my life and it's not real, it's an irrational fear but I can't fix it yet. It's been days Logan. It's only been days."

"I know, I'm sorry, I just knew you wanted me too, so I didn't think-"

"I know. But it shouldn't have taken you a rocket scientist to figure out that overpowering me, even if my body enjoys it, makes me feel just as dirty as that guy did, Logan. I'm on the run for my life here. You're not. In the last week I've had a gun shoved at me, I've had to save the life of my attacker as I failed, then as I'm leaving the hospital I'm shoved up against a wall only to be RAPED in the snow!"

"I know…and…"

"And…what?" she said with angry, wet eyes. "If I hadn't been raped then what you did would've been just fine, right? I don't need your pity, Logan. I never wanted it. Maybe a little respect, but never pity. I never asked for anything except what I would pay for. I'm really, really grateful you pulled him off of me but you know something, you just used sex as a weapon. And in a way, I feel worse from that than what that guy did to me."

She didn't want to face him anymore. She didn't want to face anyone. She didn't want anyone to see her or what she'd become since she'd become a mutant, and then a victim of a violent act. And then to be humiliated by a pain in the ass wasn't helping. She let go of Logan and turned away again, and this time the guilt slammed into him, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

"Rogue, I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"I know," she replied. "I know what I did and I know what you did and now it's time to move on. I don't want to be something that reminds you of something awful you did. I don't want to be your guilt. I took some of you in me and I took in your passion, and I wanted it just as much as you did, but like a lot of good things, it wanes. So this needs to end. Because you really, _**really **_hurt me by what you just did and I don't really want to be reminded of it either. So we need to part. I am a really fucked up woman right now and I didn't need anything else on my plate. And you certainly don't need me. You didn't particularly want me around in the first place and all I've done is irritate you."

"Rogue, I can fix this. Maybe not completely but I pulled him off of you, I want to be someone you can trust, despite today."

"Why?" she asked. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because you matter to me."

"Do I? Then cut your losses because I promise you it's not going to be you telling me how sorry you are and in a few days you've got me in your bed again. I am _**really**_ screwed up from this. You're not a woman and you haven't been sexually assaulted so I can't translate to you the seriousness of how un-okay I'm going to be. There was a moment when I got to be someone else, because of who you are I suppose, but that's all, Logan. I flipped out the very second it was over and I'm not about to just try it again like it's a piano lesson."

"I can deal with that."

She looked at him unconvincingly. "Oh you think so? Why am I not convinced?"

"Because you're angry."

She exhaled a sad laugh.

"Angry. Yes, I'm angry. Why do you want to be next to me, Logan? Knowing that I might never let you touch me again. You, who's probably never been turned down by a woman in your whole life. Is it because I'm a mutant and you think I can somehow magically give you your past back? I don't get memories in order or in sequence, so if that's the reason, forget about it right now."

"Why did you respond just now?"

She felt like a slut for responding at all.

"Do I have to talk about it? I feel like a whore, Logan. That is, after all, what you wanted. I was a toy that you got to play with. I don't feel sexy. I feel terrible."

"I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did! Don't change it now just because I reminded you of something really bad that happened to me."

"Fine! What do you want me to say, Rogue? Tell me where the hell you're going go if I leave you here."

"I don't know," she confessed.

"Then let me drive you until daylight at least. Don't let your anger at me make you do something as stupid as this."

She closed her eyes.

"Let me make you understand something before I say anything else. You and I are different. You sleeping around with a different woman every night of the week makes you a pretty normal guy who knows he's got what it takes to get away with it. A woman who got sex even half as much as you do would automatically be a slut. It's just barely okay for us to enjoy sex, but to go out and openly get laid?"

She sighed.

"I am not a slut. I wasn't asking to get raped, and I certainly was not a slut today, with you. But you treated me like one anyway. If you _**ever**_ do that again, I'm gone without hearing any reasons or excuses. I will not be degraded anymore. I've had enough. So we'll drive until daylight and then I'll let you know what I can live with."

She looked at him for a few more seconds, then walked over to pull her bag over her shoulder, and climbed back into his truck.

~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

They were reading the menus in the little restaurant they were in, in the general direction of the east coast.

"I think I'm gonna stay in New York City for awhile," Rogue said. "So when we get there, that's where you can drop me off."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I miss New York. It's been awhile since I've been there."

He didn't to "drop her off". He wanted her to stay with him. But he wouldn't dare say that; he didn't want her to know she had any power over him. It was bad enough that he knew. Why her? He had no idea. Someone that wasn't the waitress came over and disrupted his thoughts. Rogue looked up at the man.

"Marie," he said.

Her face drained instantly of all color.

"R-rick," she stuttered nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing."

Marie? That was her name? Logan thought.

"I'm just doing some traveling, how about you?"

"I've waited a long time to see you again, for this moment," Rick said.

Then he clasped a hand around her wrist and yanked her up from her seat, imprisoning her in his hands, bruising her skin as he shook her harshly in front of him.

"Does he know?" Rick taunted to her face and she closed her eyes to blot the sight of him out. "Does he know what you are and what you can do?" Rick scathed.

Then one of his hands released her arm and he raised it up, smacking her hard and she fell towards the counter, crashing into a pile of plates, arousing the entire restaurant.

"Goddamn BITCH!" Rick shouted at her.

"Logan, no!" Rogue said, seeing him about to extend his claws. "He's not worth it! Leave him alone!"

A cop stood up, but Rick wasn't afraid of the cop.

"She's a goddamn mutant!" he shouted, letting the restaurant know what she was.

The cop walked over to Rogue.

"You alright?" he asked, but her forehead was bleeding where the skin met with the plates.

She was shivering, tears streaming down her face.

"You should go," the cop said.

"Excuse me?" Rogue said. "He grabs me and hits me and you're telling me to leave?"

"Don't cause anymore drama tonight, just leave," he told her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" a woman said, standing up. "Just because she's a mutant you think she has the right to be smacked around by some jerk? What kind of police officer are you?"

"She's a fucking genetic mistake!" Rick said, grabbing Rogue again and dragging her to him. "How do you live with yourself?" he said to her.

"Get off me!" she struggled and he hit her again, this time harder and with a force that sent her staggering.

"ENOUGH!" the cop said. "Don't make me arrest anyone. Just go."

"You should be fired and because I live in this town with you sir, I will file a complaint," the woman said, making her way to Rogue with a napkin for her bleeding temple. "This woman has done nothing but be attacked by a vicious bastard and you should be ashamed of yourself for lecturing her on anything when she was a peacekeeper. You're supposed to protect but you're just a man with a badge taking advantage of his authority."

"I-I'm okay," Rogue said to the woman. "Thank you. Please don't trouble yourself with defending me."

"Don't you let him get to you," the woman told her and turned to Rick. "You're a disgrace and I hope your children are mutants who grow up to spit in your face," she told Rick. "And as for you Officer Haddad, you are not fit to wear that badge. Come on dear," she said, helping Rogue to the door.

"It's alright, thanks, but I'll take care of her," Logan said, putting his arm around Rogue and guiding her out.

A man and woman watched Logan escort Rogue out.

"Whoa, that was something you don't see everyday," the man said to her.

"Yes, someone actually defending mutants is precious and rare, but it does exist and that's why we're who we are. But that woman doesn't know how much danger she's in. The man she's with isn't the only one protecting her from them."

"You think he's a mutant too?"

"Most likely," she replied. "She looked nervous that he would probably do something to her attacker. Probably use whatever his power is. Plus, with how dangerous her mutation can be, it's highly unlikely that he would feel so comfortable with her if he too did not have a special ability."

"So shall we go back to the hotel they're at and stand guard?"

"Yes. I'll approach her soon about how much danger she's in. She has a right to know. Maybe she'll come with us."

"We can only hope."

XxX

Logan sat her down on the edge of the bed, retrieving the ice and putting it into a washcloth to hold close to her head. The lights were out at her request, but the drapes were open, allowing the streetlight to seep into the room. She was embarrassed and once again, defiled for what she was. She was still, almost numb inside by this point. Logan sat right in front of her with the ice in his hand reaching for her temple.

"Careful," she said, alert for the first time since they'd left the restaurant. "Lemme turn my skin off so it won't hurt you," she said.

"I'd rather you let me touch you with your mutation active. I want to wipe the imprint of that guy off of you. If I can heal you, let me. I want to."

"I know you do," she said, putting the ice against her wound and hissing in pain at the burning contact.

"Who the hell was he?"

"Someone from my past."

"That part I figured."

"I don't wanna talk about it, Logan."

"Okay, I understand. But please let me heal you."

She felt the numbness clenching around her and she just wanted to sleep and never wake up.

"Alright, alright," she whispered, giving in.

His fingers reached up to touch her face and waited for her to reverse her skin. When she did, she felt him ease his way inside her and felt his mutation heal her bruises and cuts. The deep one against her temple began to itch as it healed itself and became smaller and smaller until her skin cells had completely repaired themselves and then she reversed her skin back. Her tears fell on his fingers and she leaned in to him, their foreheads touching. His hand dropped from her face, snaking down to her bare throat.

God, he wanted to keep touching her.

"Logan, I need you to do me a favor," she whispered.

"What?" he rasped as he felt her hands encircling his wrist, perpetuating the blood to move faster inside him.

"I think we both need to use tonight as make believe and create a fantasy. I need you to help me with this fantasy, Logan."

"Tell me," he said, using his bare hand to creep back around her head to press her forehead more against his.

"I want you to pretend that you love me. I want you to pretend that we're not in some cheap motel on the run but that we're complete here in this moment. And that this touch," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "…is the touch of someone you love and you know without a doubt loves you back. And that there's no fear or hesitation when you touch me or tell me you love me because you're secure with me."

Rogue leaned her lips to his forehead, dragging them along erotically.

"Memorize my touch, Logan," she said breathlessly, feeling him quiver beneath her touch. "And pretend I'm everything you've ever wanted."

She moved his hand from her throat lower until it covered her breast, her nipple hardening almost immediately beneath his touch. Her lips were less than an inch from his.

"I'll be your fantasy Logan, I'll be anyone you want me to be, but I need you to say the words. The hardest words to say," she said just above a whisper as she dipped his hand into her blouse.

"But I can say them," he replied, teasing her nipple very gently, cupping her face with his other hand.

And she was so surprised when he did, so easily, so intensely, _**being**_ her fantasy by saying it and kissing her like she was everything to him. Pulling back from his kiss, she tilted her head back, revealing the slender column of her throat, tempting his lips to leave a trail of burning kisses along her quivering flesh.

He gently drew her up off the bed and began pulling off her clothing. She lifted her shirt off of her and threw it to the side, slowly unbuttoning the top button of his pants as he unsnapped her bra, collecting her in his arms to kiss her. The kisses were urgent and she felt his whole body against hers, aching and fighting to get closer and closer until they tumbled back onto the sheets, his hands slipping over her torso, melting into the silky skin.

Rising to meet his passion, she comforted him as his fantasy. Touching her, his fingers were probing her body, while she was soothing his needs and wishes. She felt much more urgency with him this time and maybe he needed the fantasy as much or more than she did. He fulfilled hers, whispering promises softly to her when she arched back in pleasure, writhing against him.

And afterwards he gathered her to him and they stared at each other, feeling a sense of peace. The fantasy wasn't quite over as her eyes washed over with love, saying the words I love you once again, and had them returned back to her with as much truth as she'd ever dreamt of. She slept on his chest, her hand resting on his upper stomach, his hand flat against her shimmery back and they slept without any fear for the first time in years.

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

She shot up out of bed, gasping for breath, damp from a nightmare.

"Rogue, Rogue it's okay," Logan said, sitting up to put his arms protectively around her and pull her back to a lying down position. "It's okay, just a dream."

Her breaths slowed as she cuddled into him.

"Sorry," she said, still panting from leftover fear. "Were you up?"

"Yeah, and don't be sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she exhaled with a laugh, letting the dream go and the memory of what had happened revive inside her head. "Yeah, I'm better than okay," she said, leaning up to gently kiss him. "You wanna do something in New York when we get there today?"

"If you want."

"Well, then in a couple hours we'll be in the heart of New York City, you wanna stop and sight see a bit?"

"When was the last time you were there?"

"It's been forever. Years. I was…well you know who I was, I was Marie back then."

"You want to go as who you are now?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's do it."

XxX

"You hate it."

"I don't hate it."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Logan!" she exclaimed as they sat in a diner on 52nd and 4th Avenue, where the waiters and waitresses sang great 50s and 60s music. "Don't lie to me. Otherwise I'll ask you to see Les Miserables!"

He dug his fork into the food. He was trying so hard to like this tourist thingy she was doing but he wasn't used to…it.

"I'm just not used to doing a lot of touring. But I'm getting used to it, all right?"

"Don't you think there might be more to life than drinking and having sex?" she asked.

"Not really," he replied and she laughed. "I'll be right back."

"K," she said, twirling the spaghetti on her fork.

Across the restaurant, they noticed Logan had gotten up.

"Alright, he's up, I'm going to go talk to her."

"Be careful, she'll most likely think we're following her."

"We _**are**_ following her."

"I know, but she's going to assume we're them."

"We're not, and that's all that counts," she finished, standing up and making her way towards Rogue.

Rogue stuffed her mouth full of the spaghetti when she looked up and noticed a beautiful woman sitting in Logan's seat. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was full.

"Can I help you?" she managed through her full mouth.

"Hi, I didn't mean to startle you, I just need to talk to you for a second," the white haired woman said.

Rogue wiped her mouth and swallowed.

"Do I know you?"

"Not yet. My name's…Ororo Munroe. Have you heard of the X-Men, my dear?"

"No."

"Let me start by saying I'm a mutant, and I know you're a mutant who's in danger. I know you've been on the run for a few years from other mutants."

Now she had Rogue's full attention.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I'm a mutant, I'm an X-Man. We're an organization of mutants that have a place where we can be safe from everyone else. Where we learn to control and manipulate our mutations. Where we can hide people. I'm giving you our card with our address, phone number, and all other contact info," Storm said, slipping the card to Rogue. "I know this must sound…extreme but I promise you that we can keep you safe and give you a place to live. We're all mutants at this institute, so if you're ever scared or in danger or just simply have no where to go, come here."

Rogue looked at the card. It was a school.

"What's the catch? I mean why have you sought me out, knowing things about me I haven't told anyone, offering me everything?"

"Because I'm a mutant who joined other mutants who wanted to create a haven for them, and I'm inviting you because we need a place where others can't get to us. I have to leave now, but you keep that card. The institute's in Westchester, you've got a safe place Rogue."

Storm squeezed Rogue's gloved hand, then got up and left. Rogue stared at the card.

"What's that?"

She jumped.

"It's nothing," she said, putting it in her pocket as Logan sat down across from her. "So, where do you wanna go next?"

"Liberty Island?"

"No thanks," Rogue replied. "Had a dream about it, gives me the creeps. Anywhere else you wanna go?"

"I don't know. You're the one who knows what's out here."

"Maybe we should just keep going to Canada," she suggested.

"You ever been there?" he asked.

"Yeah, a long time ago. Studied medicine there."

"Rogue, if you enjoy New York and want to stay here, that's fine with me," he said sincerely. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

She smiled.

"Thanks. I think you liked everything we did until this restaurant," she laughed as another waitress sang a 50s song so loudly she had to shout for him to hear her.

It had actually been really fun. She'd actually made Logan fun to be around. They'd walked around Manhattan visiting various landmarks with one of her bought maps that they wrestled over and laughed about. She brought up a side that was stashed deep inside him and he felt so much lighter, without so much baggage weighing him down. He'd gotten used to laughing, that was incredible.

As they got back into his truck several hours later to head up to Montreal, she got out her laptop again.

"K, I can put the money into your account in Canadian or American dollars, which do you prefer?"

"I don't have an "account", Rogue."

"Fine, I'll get it out of an ATM, do you want it in Canadian dollars?"

~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

They were at the train station. She'd paid him and he was just seeing her off. They stood there on the platform a few minutes before the train was going to take off.

"So where you gonna go?" he asked.

"I think I actually have somewhere to go for the first time in awhile," she said, preparing to give Xavier's Institute a chance.

She had nothing better to do.

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she assured him. "Thank you for everything, Logan. I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

He cupped the side of her face.

"I wish there was a way for me to make sure you could always contact me."

She smiled and placed her hand over his.

"I'm not helpless, Logan. I'll be okay. And maybe someday we'll bump into each other again."

"You, on this train Miss, cause it's leaving in two minutes," a man on the train shouted to her.

"Okay! Thank you!" she shouted back. "Okay, give me a hug, let's get this over with," she said, reaching up to hug him.

His strong arms clung around her like thick vines as tears stung her eyelids. He was holding her _**really**_ tightly, and she knew that even though he wouldn't express it, that he didn't want her to go. She pulled back and smiled at him, caressing his face.

"See ya, Logan," she said softly, tugging his hand before letting it go and hauling herself up onto the train.

They watched him watch her as she waved goodbye to him, then watched him turn and walk away.

"Well she's on her way to us, so she'll be safe finally."

"Think they're in love?"

"Scott, isn't that obvious?"

"Yeah, I was just checking Ro, don't bite my head off."

As they waited for the train to take off, Logan turned around, unable to let her go. He just couldn't. He had nowhere to go but when he thought of her not being there to change the radio station or give him another southern expression, it was too boring and too damn empty. So he saw her standing at the doorway of the train, her hair blowing and her intake of air, breathing in life and choosing to live it, and he envied that.

So he ran. He ran as fast as he could and shouted for her as the doors began to close. He kept them open with his arms.

"Rogue! Get off the train now, come here!" he shouted.

She was standing right there, stunned and wondering what was wrong.

"Logan, what the hell are you doing?" she said and he grabbed her arm and dragged her off the train.

"Just come with me, get over here," he said pulling her down.

"Logan, you're crazy! Okay, okay what? What?"

"Lady, this train's leaving now!" a guy shouted from the doors.

"I know, I'm sorry, would you just--"

"She's not going!" Logan shouted.

"Logan!"

"You're not, trust me, you're not."

"Well?" the guy asked Rogue.

Rogue didn't have any idea what the hell was going on.

"I…guess I'll catch the next one, sorry sir," she said, then looked back at Logan. "What do you mean grabbing me off a train like that?"

"What I mean is that I'm not letting you go!"

"What the hell does that mean? You scare me half to death, you grab me off a practically MOVING train-"

"That night Rogue, I didn't have to see anyone but you. I didn't have to imagine anyone but you because it _**was**_ you."

He didn't recognize that look in her eyes as his hand swept up the side of her face. Whether it was confusion or fear or something else he didn't know. But he'd said it and he felt everything coming to the surface for him at once.

"And I'm not gonna let you get on that train and disappear. I have no idea who I am but I felt like I did when I was with you. I'm not letting you go."

Her eyes were so wide and stunned that he knew the only thing he wanted to do as he slammed his mouth down on hers, stroking her lips, showing her in the kiss what he couldn't express as well in words. He sought and kissed her mouth, caressing it, his warm hands brushing back the hair that got in his way. And he had never felt more complete or relieved when her hand slid up his face around his neck, returning the kiss.

"Wow," he exclaimed.

"Well…um…yeah. That pretty much says it."

"So what do we do now? Go over and invite them to lunch while we explain she's in great danger?"

"I told her she was in danger, and she believed me."

"You think she'll still try to come to the institution?"

"Well Scott, I think she's a little busy right now, what do you think?" she teased back.

"We still don't know what his mutation is."

"No, but we will."

"So we're just going to stand here while they make out on the platform?"

"Scott, be patient! Where's your sense of romance?" Storm replied.

~~~~~~The End~~~~~~

Completed 2004


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